Track-sanding apparatus for street-cars



l'. lum-wl nlllll O s I Patented May 2511886.

TRAGKA SANDING APPARATUS POR STREET GARS.

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l (No Model.)

' W. T. BUTLER 8v G. H. HATHAWAY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WARREN T. BUTLER, OE CHELSEA, AND GEORGE H. HATHAWAY, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSTGNORS To THE OAR TRACK ERTCTTON APPLIANCE COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE.

TRACK-SANDING APPARATUS FOR STREET-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 342,729, dated May 25, 1886.

' Application filed Apn'l 3, 1886. Serial No. 197,669. (No modell) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WARREN T. BUTLER, of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and Oommouwealth of Massachusetts, and GEORGE H. HATHAWAY, of Boston, in said county and State, have jointly invented a new and useful Improvement in Track -Sanding Apparatus for Street-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improvement upon that patented to the same applicants March 2, 1886, N o. 336,891, and relates to the mechanism of the hopper from which the sand is discharged and the means for discharging sand from it, the object of the invention being to make the discharge of sand from the hopper more prompt and certain than by the means described in the patent referred to and it consists of a hopper having both sides movable from and toward each other to open and close, to discharge and retain sand.

Under the construction described in the patent referred to, in which only one side of the hopper vibrated and performed the functions of a gate, the sand in the hopper might under some circumstancesl be slow to move, and require several movements of the actuating-levers to start the iiow, but when sand is needed on the track it is of the utmost importance that the flow should follow the first motion of the lever instantaneously.

Our improvement herein described secures an instantaneous flow' of sand upon the first motion of the levers.

In the drawings annexed, Figure 1 is aside view of a portion of an open horse-car, showing the sand-box, hopper, and actuating-levers. Fig. 2 isa top plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the sand-box, showing 40 the arrangement of levers to open the lower end of the hopper and close it by a spring, dotted lines showing .it open for discharge. Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the sand-box, showing the hopper and the fulcrums on which the two sides ofthe hopper are suspended and vibrate; also, in dotted lines, the actuating levers and springs.

a marks the sand-box. This is placed in the bottom of the car forward of the wheel 5o under a seat projecting below the oor about two-thirds of its depth, and one may be placed on each side and at both ends of a car, if desirable.

a marks the hopper in the sandbox. This is made of sheet or cast metal in two parts, each part being hung on and Asupported by a fulcrum-journal on the outside of it extending across the box, the ends of which rest in suitablesupporting devices on the wall of the box.

ai marks the two fulerum-journals on which 6o the two parts ofthe hopper, respectively, are hung by socket-bearings at each end on both sides of it. The two parts of the hopper being free to vibrate each on its own fulcrunxjournal, they may be drawn away from each other at the lower end, making an opening between them, through Which sand falls into a conducting-chute below.

a marks a metallic shield, secured to the middle of each end of the box a on the inside 7o in avertical position, having a recess on both sides between it and the wall of the box, into which the edges of the'two parts of the hopper extend a part of the depth of the recess, and in which recess the edges of the hopper move when the lower part of the hopper is opened to discharge sand. The purpose of this shield is to keep the edges of the hopper free from sand, so that the parts may vibrate without danger of being choked by sand.

a" marks a spring,which, acting on the system of levers by which the sides of the hopper are moved away from each other, closes the opening at the lower end of the hopper whenever the force by which they are Opened is Withdrawn.

a5 marks the system of levers by which the lower end ofthe hopper is opened and closed.

a6 marks a short padded lever hung loosely upon the dash-board of the street-car at a 9G point where it can be pressed by the driver with his knee. The back of this padded lever is against the working end of the system of levers a5, and when the driver of a car wishes to lsand the track he presses the padded lever a, with his knee andmoves the whole system of levers a, and opens the lower end of the hopper, both sides of which moving away from the central vertical line make it certain that the sand will be loosened and fall. Vhen IOO he withdraws thepressure, the spring a" re' capable of a vibrating motion from and `toverses the motion of the levers and closes the ward each other, suspended upon the'fulerumhopper so that no more sand will escape. jou rnals a2, in combination with the system of These sand-boxes, hoppers, and system of lelevers a, all substantially as described, for the I 5 5 vers may be used at both ends of a car, and the purposes specified.

padded lever maybe loosely hung on the dash- T board, and removed and carried from one eud AY of the car to the other. J

Ve claim as new and oux` invention- Vtnessesz' ro `In a car-traok-sanding apparatus, a fuuuel- OHS. HOUGHTON, shaped hopper, a', made in two parts, both G. F. GOING. 

